


Who is afraid of thunder? (an Unspoken Desires one-shot)

by Princess_Geek



Series: Unspoken Desires [10]
Category: Desire & Decorum (Visual Novel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:28:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26233450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princess_Geek/pseuds/Princess_Geek
Summary: This one-shot takes place during Beatrice’s first summer at Edgewater.
Series: Unspoken Desires [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1807399
Kudos: 2





	Who is afraid of thunder? (an Unspoken Desires one-shot)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my submission for Choices August Challange, Day 27: thunder. 
> 
> The lyrics quoted belong to this song www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dslen0lIUYA
> 
> English is not my first language. Please, excuse me any for typos /or grammatical errors.

That night Beatrice and Harry were alone at home. Well, not completely alone, since there were always some members of the staff sleeping at the mansion, but Vincent, Henrietta, Dominique and Edmund had left to London that evening to attend a charity gala. Children under thirteen years did not usually attend these events, so they were left at Edgewater.

As usual, Harry ignored his sister for the rest of the day.

Beatrice preferred to dine at staff’s quarters with them than having to see her brother’s frown at dinner. She stayed with them until bedtime.

A couple of hours later, Beatrice was awoken by an intense light and a bang that seemed to shake her bed.

She didn’t realize what was going on until the second lightning illuminated the room. She ran to the window to see. A thunderstorm. Beatrice tried to turn on the light, but the power had failed. It was raining torrentially and the thunders did not stop. It was almost deafening. Papa could not come back that night as he had promise.

Soon after, the butler arrived with a flashlight and assured her that they would try to repair it as soon as possible.

“Are you not afraid, miss?” – Mr Sawyer asked her admired.

“No. I have a secret weapon to not be scared.” – she said proudly.

Suddenly, Beatrice remembered that Harry was also at home. Flashlight in hand, she crossed the dark corridor to his room. Beatrice knocked on the door, but she only got a cry in response. She opened the door and aimed the flashlight at her brother’s bed. Instead of finding Harry, Beatrice found a mountain of blankets.

“Harry, are you here?”

No one answered.

“Harry, this isn’t fun…I just want to know if you’re okay.”

“Leave me alone!” – a voice grunted under the blankets.

“Are you hidden under the blankets?”

She started taking out blankets until find him curled around himself.

“Are you scared, Harry?”

“Of course not!” - he replied covering himself with a sheet.

With a new thunder, Harry let out a cry that he tried to stifle.

Beatrice went up to his bed and started to stroking his hair over the sheet. Harry grunted at first, but let her continue.

“That’s okay have afraid of thunders. They are scary. Even adults are afraid of thunderstorms. If Mrs Daly were here, she would have closed all the windows and she’s brave. And you are the bravest boy I have ever met.”

He uncovered his head just enough to look his sister in the eyes illuminated by the flashlight.

“Truly?”

She nodded.

“Anyway, I’m not afraid … I just don’t like it.”

“I used to be afraid … I mean … I used to not like thunders … I still don’t like it … but my mother gave me a secret weapon to fight thunders.”

“You’ve got my attention.” – Harry sat on the bed, but still wrapped in a sheet.

“My mother taught me a song that keeps thunderstorms away. We can sing it alone, but she says it works faster if we sing it like this.” – Beatrice put her arms around Harry.

“I don’t like this, but if you say so…”

Beatrice didn’t even let him finish mumbling and started to sing:

Little child, be not afraid  
Though rain pounds harshly against the glass  
Like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger  
I am here tonight  
Little child, be not afraid  
Though thunder explodes and lightning flash  
Illuminates your tear-stained face  
I am here tonight  
And someday you’ll know  
That nature is so  
The same rain that draws you near me  
Falls on rivers and land  
On forests and sand  
Makes the beautiful world that you’ll see  
In the morning

Although he didn’t admit it, Harry felt himself relaxing with his sister’s sweet voice.

Little child, be not afraid  
Though storm clouds mask your beloved moon  
And its candlelight beams, still keep pleasant dreams  
I am here tonight  
(…)  
For you know, once even I was a  
Little child, and I was afraid  
But a gentle someone always came  
To dry all my tears, trade sweet sleep for fears  
And to give a kiss goodnight  
Well now I am grown  
And these years have shown  
That rain’s a part of how life goes  
But it’s dark and it’s late  
So I’ll hold you and wait  
‘Til your frightened eyes do close

Beatrice’s voice cracked while she singing these verses. The image of the mother singing them to her came to her memory. She mimicked her mother's gestures and cuddles. 

(…)

Everything’s fine in the morning

The rain’ll be gone in the morning

But I’ll still be here in the morning

“Sing it again.” – he asked. 

And she sang it, again and again until they both fell asleep. 

Harry woke up at sunrise hugging his sister. He released himself from her embrace immediately. He didn’t like her and would never like. 

“Wake up, the storm is over.”

She didn’t move. Beatrice was sleeping like a rock. Then, he pushed her to the edge of the bed. Harry put some pillows on the floor and pushed her down from the bed.

“Auch! There was no need to do that!”

“It’s time to go to your bedroom. I don’t want anyone to see me in my bed.”

“You really are ungrateful!” – Beatrice threw a pillow at him.

“And if you tell me what happened last night, I will deny it … even more … I will say that you were terrified and that you begged me to spend the night here.”

“Wherever…We both know what really happened and you’re going to have to live with it. And although you are being an ass, I do not regret what I did, because despite everything, I can’t hate you because you’re my brother.”

“That’s precisely what I hate about you. I wish I could ‘unbrother’ you”

“What’s going on here?” – Vincent appeared at the bedroom door.

“Papa!” - both clung to their father’s waist.

“Now that you’re here, we’re fine. We miss you.” – Beatrice said.

“That must be the only thing we agree on.” – Harry grumbled.

“I miss you both so much that I was up all-night waiting for the storm to stop so I could come back to you.” - Vincent took his two children by the hand – “C’mon, let’s have breakfast…there is a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen.”


End file.
